Bear Creek Loa, CO
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.4 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
Bear Creek Loa at a glance
Bear Creek Loa serves about 190 people through 94 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws surface water, in Conejos County, Colorado. EPA system ID: CO0214142; phone on file: 972-679-1174. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Bear Creek Loa's lead record
That is up 2.4 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Bear Creek Loa is 2.4 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0.2 ppb |
| 2019 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2018 | 1 ppb |
| 2017 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2016 | 0.6 ppb |
How Bear Creek Loa compares
Of the 1,025 Colorado systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 71 have gone over at some point. Bear Creek Loa's 2.4 ppb sits at the 78th percentile in Colorado and the 76th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
7 other systems share Conejos County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Bear Creek Loa. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Antonito Town Of | 981 | 5 ppb |
| Manassa Town Of | 976 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sanford Town Of | 850 | 0 (not detected) |
| La Jara Town Of | 825 | 0 (not detected) |
| Romeo Town Of | 365 | 0 (not detected) |
| Capulin Wd | 250 | 0 (not detected) |
| Guadalupe Wa | 42 | 1 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Antonito, CO may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Bear Creek Loa whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.